[Territhemayor]

Hi guys, I was wondering what your thoughts were on this problem.
Everyone here has headphones, but what if you need more than 1 person to listen at a time?
I really want to get a Raptor, but that's only single channel, and I sometimes need 2 headphones to be powered at the same time. So I'm thinking, what about an AV switcher. I can buy a cheap pair of 12 buck desktop speakers and use those when I need too (SQ dosen't matter much when I need 2 people to listen) and just switch to them when I need it.
So my setup would be like this
Computer-->DAC-->Switcher-->Amp (Raptor maybe) -->headphones
Computer-->DAC-->Switcher-->Speakers


EDIT: My little diagram didn't work, but the speakers would be right after the DAc, but before the amp.
But then the speakers would not have an amp, and thus not beable to play, right?
Could I just stick a mini to 1/4th adapter onto the speakers and power it through my raptor/other amp?

What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Charlie

 

[jp11801]

in a word yes, it will lower the sq. Anything in the path can lower the quality as you are putting another set of cables a switch and the wire in the box. Now with a very high quality box the degradation should be lesened. I have a custom switch box from moth audio (Eddie Current) and can not tell if it is in the signal path, a cheap switcher could degrade the sound. Why not try it out and see.
I would put it in the path and then out and see if you can hear it. If you can have a friend come over and take it in and out of the signal path with your back turned so your mind can not compensate.

 

[Territhemayor]

But could I just power the speakers from my head amp?

 

[dspargo]

Direct is best

 

[Territhemayor]

What do you mean "direct is best"?
I dont want to use the selector but I do need to have a speaker setup, but if I could just plug the speakers into my headphone amp and have them useable, that would be great, I don't see why it wouldn't work...

 

[royalcrown]

Headphone amps generally don't have enough power to run speakers effectively (i.e. at audible levels without MASSIVE distortion). There are/can be exceptions to this rule. Does the DAC sit on your desktop? If so, you can do what I do. Buy a t-amp for 30 bucks (I think the Gen2's go for 60 now though =/ ebay it). Grab some cheapo speakers (Radioshack Presidian, Best Buy Insignia's, etc.), and then plug the t-amp to the DAC. Switch cables when necessary, turning off each unit when not in use. It's a bit more of a hassle, but stops any theoretical degradation. To be perfectly honest, I don't think you'll notice a difference if the switchbox is well-built, and you can DIY it with high quality cabling/connectors in a Hammond box and call it done.

 

[onvn]

A cheap AV selector would not be the best way to go.. If you don't want to have the hassle on switching cables, etc, an option is to get an RCA splitter.. Unless you're one of those who insist this will alter the sound so much you can no longer enjoy music.. But be sure you don't turn on both the equipment on at the same time..

Or better yet, if you end up buying an amp that has an output, use that to connect it to your speakers (which I assume are active speakers?)

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by royalcrown /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone amps generally don't have enough power to run speakers effectively (i.e. at audible levels without MASSIVE distortion). There are/can be exceptions to this rule. Does the DAC sit on your desktop? If so, you can do what I do. Buy a t-amp for 30 bucks (I think the Gen2's go for 60 now though =/ ebay it). Grab some cheapo speakers (Radioshack Presidian, Best Buy Insignia's, etc.), and then plug the t-amp to the DAC. Switch cables when necessary, turning off each unit when not in use. It's a bit more of a hassle, but stops any theoretical degradation. To be perfectly honest, I don't think you'll notice a difference if the switchbox is well-built, and you can DIY it with high quality cabling/connectors in a Hammond box and call it done.

I have done what royalcrown is saying here, and with more than reasonable results. I've tried the DAC to headphone amp, to T-amp to speakers and I've tried the DAC to T-amp to speakers. Both were nice.

You should be able to do what you are thinking about inexpensively, if you take the T-amp approach. Good luck!

 

[QQQ]

When a fly lands on the rail, rail bends. Theoretically. In practice you'll never see it.